Category Archives: Home Mortgage

The Advantages Of Purchasing A Home Via Lease To Own (with Low Down Payment And Bad Credit)

Folks have different reasons for avoiding owning homes. Some factor is their less than stellar credit scores into the situation. This gives them limited access to mortgage plans, with only those that are laden with ridiculous interest rates usually available. Others who are able to acquire financing have limited cash flows. This hinders them from coming up with considerable down-payment amounts for home purchases. And there are those who hold satisfactory paying jobs, yet their status as new immigrants immediately crosses them out from home ownership opportunities. Whatever the reasons may be, it is refreshing to know that there is a viable option available if you are one of the folks described above, and that is through lease to own. Unsure how this system will work to your benefit? Then read on to find out.

1.You get access to immediate home ownership opportunities. The lease to buy option, just like its name suggests, first starts out as a lease agreement between you and the house owner. But instead of just renting out the property, you are presented with the chance to buy it after the lease agreement expires. This then translates to instant home ownership, as you are essentially already considered the owner of the home the moment you move in. Hate the tile work in the bathroom? Then by all means have it changed! You can make as many improvements or modifications as you want and not worry about what the landlord will say.

2.Only requires payment of really affordable amounts. With home purchasing, you are required to fork over at least 5% of the propertys worth to cover lender fees, realtor shares, and equity payments. With rent to own however, this is not usually the case. All you need to come up with is the option deposit amount that is usually just twice of what you will usually pay for when closing a home rental deal. Whats best, the option deposit will be deducted from the overall price of the home once you finally decide to avail of your option to buy.

3.Provides you with the chance to opt out of buying. There are a number of reasons that could affect your decision to buy the home. First off, if you think the home will lose its value in the future, then you may decide against buying it. Or perhaps through the span of the lease to own agreement you find out the neighborhood is not really somewhere you would like to raise a family. Probably the neighbors are boisterous, or maybe the area has its considerable share of crimes. Whatever your reservations may be, you have the option to not proceed with the deal to buy. And if you indeed decide to abort the deal, you will lose the option deposit, which is a fairly low investment considering all the home ownership opportunities you have gained access to.

Lastly, deciding to avail of the lease to buy option from a reputable seller has a number of benefits when you look at it from a legal standpoint. Firstly, you will be protected from evictions. Questionable home sellers typically just pocket monthly lease payments and not take care of current dues such as mortgage, real estate tax, or insurance coverage. Through a respectable seller, all these dues will already be included in your monthly payments. This way, you need not have to worry about paying them on time, or worse, get caught unawares with an eviction notice from the lender. Secondly, by dealing with a reputable seller, you are protected from unknown transfers while the rent to own agreement is in full effect. So you need not fear of having to give up the home you have been paying for religiously to someone who happens to hold a legally binding deed of transfer.

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The Hardship Letter Is Just The First Step In Applying For A Home Loan Modification By: Danny Hammond

The number one thought on many of my clients mind is: “What is a Hardship Letter” and what am I supposed to write in it”? I am a 35 year veteran of the Real Estate and Mortgage Industries. My work as a consultant has changed dramatically in the last 3 years. The normal information people were looking for before 2007 was related to buying or building homes, getting mortgages, and finding good interest rates.

 

But, today everything is different. We have moved a mile to the other end of the spectrum. First we watched the “mortgage meltdown”, watched in horror as millions of families lost their jobs to the economy and then their homes to foreclosure. These circumstances placed the Lenders into fragile positions as they took on too many foreclosed homes. Today, as Lenders and politicians see that the economy is endangered by the mass of foreclosures, we see a concerted effort to “save” homes from foreclosures.

 

If you are facing foreclosure, then you have probably received letters from your Lender demanding you catch up all of your back payments or lose your home. This payment of all past due money is actually a process called reinstatement. If you pay up all of your past due payments, your are current.

 

But, what if you don’t have the cash to catch up? It is really silly to try to try to force someone who is several months behind in their payments, to come up with the money to get current immediately. If there are employment or income issues, illness, or bad mortgages that caused you to get behind, then how can you come up with a lot of cash? Your credit has probably been damaged and you can’t possibly get a refinance on your home.

 

There is a way. It is called a Home Loan Modification and there are hundreds of thousands of them being done all over the country. The Modification process is a way of changing the terms of your loan to lower your interest rate; lower your payment; put your back payments back into your loan, so that you can pay them back over time. You can also fix your interest rate, so that your payment can never be raised again. If you have one of the “bad” Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) your interest rate will be lowered and will remain the same through the term of your loan. This is called a Fixed Interest Rate.

 

To get a Home Loan Modification, you must apply for it. To put together an application for a Modificationyou start with a Hardship Letter. The Hardship Letter is a letter that explains the circumstances that caused you to get behind in your payments, and why your current circumstances would allow you to make payments if you could be given a more affordable payment to make. This is the first item needed for a Loan Modification,it is the introduction to the application, so to speak. But, it is just the first step.

 

The Hardship Letter must be carefully thought out. You can be turned down if it paints to bright of a picture of your financial condition. You can also be turned down if the letter shows your situation to be too bad. It can be best to have a mortgage expert in modifications help you with it.

It is also best to remember that although the Hardship Letter is a very important part of a Home Loan Modification, it is still only one part of a complicated application. A Hardship Letter will NOT get you a Home Loan Modification. There is a great deal more.

 

First you must Stop Your Foreclosure and make sure it is absolutely postponed or suspended long enough to give your time to get your Modification Application submitted and accepted by the correct department at your Lender. Customer Service at your Lender can’t do this and won’t do it.

 

Next you will need to supply the necessary documents to support everything that you have said in yourHardship Letter. If you leave something out, or supply conflicting information you can be DENIED.

 

It is true that you can put together an application yourself. But, if you make a mistake and are denied, it is much more difficult to get your Lender to look at the situation the 2nd time.

During your modification period, it is very likely that you will not make any monthly payments. This period could last from 60 days to a year, depending on which Lender you owe. You could be saving this money for when your payments begin again if you are smart.

Most Lawyers and Modification Professional Companies charge $ 2500 to $ 4500 to help you with your modification. In the author box below, you will see that it can cost less than to get the right help than you think.

Danny Hammond is a Real Estate Broker; Home Builder; and Mortgage Broker. He works as a consultant helping families keep their homes out of foreclosure and getting affordable payments. He is now referring clients to TOTAL FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS, which is a company that specializes in helping you throughout your foreclosure process. While they do charge a fee, it could be as low as $ 499 which is probably far less than your current monthly payment on your house. They can save you more than they cost! If your situation requires it, you can divide this cost into payments.

Let TOTAL FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS help you with your application the first time. But, if you have been denied, theyare the very best at putting together the best 2nd application.

Contact TOTAL FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS at: http://www.mortgagepaymentmodifications.com

Email: mortgagesolutionstoday@gmail.com

 

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